Now I can take this movie in one of two ways: either it is a criticism of American society or it is a praise of American society. I don't think that it is a movie that is meant to make a statement but rather it is for the entertainment of young adults. Now one of the reasons that this movie doesn't work is because the concept of it, giant insects moving into middle class America and disguising themselves as humans, is really something aimed at children, yet a lot of the in movie concepts, such as the continual drug references and hints at homosexuality, is something that only adults can understand. I don't know if this movie flopped, but in America it did receive an R rating (which is MA in Australia).
Now let us look at the critical side of the film. What it seems to do is to take aspects of American society and blow them out of proportion. Meet the Applegates focuses on the middle class society and it seems to satirically attack what is considered average. The Applegates are supposed to be the average American family so that they don't look out of place. The problem is that by being the average they are actually singled out because the average is not in fact average. Even though they try to be average, problems arise. For example, the boy, Johnny, likes heavy metal music - this is what is average, but because of this he attracts the two delinquents who smoke and are into drugs. In the end he becomes a drug dealer who has informants everywhere and becomes far from being average.
The girl is different. She is supposed to be a sweet woman who kisses on the second date. What they don't expect is that her boyfriend wants to go all the way. What angered me was that the guy practically raped her, yet at the end of the movie it is the Applegates that are accused of being bad. The only reason that he was cocooned was because he discovered that she was not human. In the end he went unpunished for something that I consider wrong. Yet this also is a comment on society. The girls knew what he was like and they could handle him, but the insect didn't so when he started coming on strong she couldn't fight back. Thus we see here that the American society overcomes the alien.
This brings me on to the uniqueness of the American society as is portrayed in the film, and along with this is how the society will overcome its invaders. The concept of the secretary jumping her employer comes out, and Dick doesn't really understand the whole concept and thus is caught and fired. The secretary though was coming on very strong and though Dick succumbed, in the end she walks away free while Dick is the one who is punished. We also see this with Jane about how the American, who has grown up around a consumer society, has a spending curve that enables her to survive, while Jane, who is new to the society, is introduced to credit and rushes out and begins to buy all of these wonderful things. In the end, her desire to own more destroys her as the bank comes along and takes everything away.
What we see here is American Society at its lowest, yet there is a patriotic speech at the end of the movie about how everybody should live in harmony and how we should not infringe on others societies. The bug killer is attacked but in general all of the things that went on in the movie seem to be ignored. Even though we see a degenerate and sadistic society, on the level, humanity is nice and loving and all of this is unimportant. That is what makes me sick.
Now let us look at the critical side of the film. What it seems to do is to take aspects of American society and blow them out of proportion. Meet the Applegates focuses on the middle class society and it seems to satirically attack what is considered average. The Applegates are supposed to be the average American family so that they don't look out of place. The problem is that by being the average they are actually singled out because the average is not in fact average. Even though they try to be average, problems arise. For example, the boy, Johnny, likes heavy metal music - this is what is average, but because of this he attracts the two delinquents who smoke and are into drugs. In the end he becomes a drug dealer who has informants everywhere and becomes far from being average.
The girl is different. She is supposed to be a sweet woman who kisses on the second date. What they don't expect is that her boyfriend wants to go all the way. What angered me was that the guy practically raped her, yet at the end of the movie it is the Applegates that are accused of being bad. The only reason that he was cocooned was because he discovered that she was not human. In the end he went unpunished for something that I consider wrong. Yet this also is a comment on society. The girls knew what he was like and they could handle him, but the insect didn't so when he started coming on strong she couldn't fight back. Thus we see here that the American society overcomes the alien.
This brings me on to the uniqueness of the American society as is portrayed in the film, and along with this is how the society will overcome its invaders. The concept of the secretary jumping her employer comes out, and Dick doesn't really understand the whole concept and thus is caught and fired. The secretary though was coming on very strong and though Dick succumbed, in the end she walks away free while Dick is the one who is punished. We also see this with Jane about how the American, who has grown up around a consumer society, has a spending curve that enables her to survive, while Jane, who is new to the society, is introduced to credit and rushes out and begins to buy all of these wonderful things. In the end, her desire to own more destroys her as the bank comes along and takes everything away.
What we see here is American Society at its lowest, yet there is a patriotic speech at the end of the movie about how everybody should live in harmony and how we should not infringe on others societies. The bug killer is attacked but in general all of the things that went on in the movie seem to be ignored. Even though we see a degenerate and sadistic society, on the level, humanity is nice and loving and all of this is unimportant. That is what makes me sick.